In which I don't know how to use "In which I" in a blog title

Well, I didn't win the giveaway so I was feeling a little depressed today. I decided to go run into some oncoming traffic, but we don't live on a very busy street, so too bad.
While I was out, I remembered how much I used to love jogging. I used to do it all the time, but I quit while I was in China because people would always point and stare and laugh and cough.

This is the street we used to live on. I know just what you're thinking, and I couldn't agree more, it is beautiful, isn't it.



Nobody runs in China, unless they've just stolen something or they're on fire. It's just not a common form of exercise.
Nope, this is how most people exercise in China



Public exercise equipment around every corner.











This must be why Chinese people are so healthy... and tired.

They also like to ride bikes. But I never saw anyone wearing a helmet. Most people just wore these welding mask things, just in case they had to perform an emergency weld.

And perfect if you're having a bad face day.

Anyway, it was sure nice going for a little jog here in America. My favorite part about jogging isn't the pain, soreness, hyperventilating, or even the vomiting.

It's the smells.

If you go for a run in the evening the smells are AMAZING! Except if garbage day is the next day and everyone remembered to take their garbage cans out to the curb, then the smells are just okay.

But every other day is fantastic.

Why? Because that's when people are making dinner and doing their laundry. The lasagna/downy smell is unbelievable. Sometimes I'll just stand by the side of someone's home, right next to the dryer vent, and try to guess which kind of detergent they use.

You'd be surprised by how many people will let a complete and sweaty stranger into their laundry rooms to see which detergent they're using.

ZERO!

about a giveaway I'm going to win, if you all don't mess it up for me

My favorite blog designer, Gisele Jaquenod, is having a giveaway! I've been using her layouts for almost two years and I love them so much, I think I might just have to ignore them while I watch TV, like I do to all the other things I love.

The winner will receive a custom blog template! So go check out her website and all her cute and free templates. But if you could just maybe umm not enter the contest, that would help me out a lot, thanks. And as a reward for not entering, I'll have my own giveaway.

Sorry, I don't have my dandelion bouquet and peanut jar vase to offer you anymore, but I did just finish a banana, and I could give you the peel. I've heard banana peels make excellent compost. That's a lie, I've never actually heard that, I just figured they probably do.

Zombie Pets

I think I need to start blogging more often because the other night while I was playing Earth Angel on the guitar at my parent's high school dance, my hand started disappearing.

It's gonna be hard to type with a fading hand but I can do it! I can do anything if I just believe in myself, that's how I buttoned Meici's jacket this morning, with faith.

Speaking of Meici, she's scared of zhu zhu pets. Uncle Nic got one for her and Evan for Christmas. It attacked her hair and we had to cut it out. There's a sign on the box that says "Keep away from hair" but Meici must have misread it to say

"PUT IT ON TOP OF YOUR HEAD RIGHT NOW, IT'S LOTS OF FUN AND NOT PAINFUL AT ALL AND IF THE WHEELS GET TANGLED UP IN YOUR HAIR, YOUR HAIR WILL TURN INTO CANDY AND YOU'LL NEVER BE HUNGRY AGAIN, DO IT!!!"

I'm angry I didn't get a picture of the evil hamster trying to eat my daughter's brain, usually the first thing I do when my kids are in danger is get the camera, but I was a little worried the monster would come after me next so he had to be stopped immediately. So we had to cut that thing out of her hair. At least that old Chinese lady we saw at the store in Beijing is happy. Let me explain.

In China, every toddler under the age of three has a shaved head. They say it will help the hair grow back nice and thick. I think Meici was the only little girl in China that instead of a shaved head, had her own natural mullet (the top just doesn't grow).

So anyway, old Chinese ladies were constantly telling me that I needed to shave Meici's hair and put some socks on her feet because it was a frigid 92 degrees outside. Then I'd tell them in a real smart aleck voice "Why don't you go shave your own daughter's hair and let me parent the way I want to ok? Dude, I thought this was a free country! NOW SCRAM!" Then the lady would just stare at me in shame because she realized that she should have kept her nose in her own business. But my husband says she stared at me because she didn't understand a word I said since it was all in English.

Then he would say something to her in Chinese, roughly translated to mean "Wise elder of mine, you are most generous for bestowing your knowledge upon us this day. On our return home we will shave her hair at once and bathe her feet in warm soy milk. Infinite thanks to you Queen Grandma"

I'm glad to be back in the USA, where strangers don't care about the well-being of my children.